Symbolic marriage unites a minister, a mayor and a city

Flemish Mayor for Brussels Affairs, Sven Gatz (Open Vld party) and Brussels Mayor Philippe Close were symbolically married on Wednesday with the City of Brussels in the wedding hall of the Brussels City Hall.

The “Brussels gets married” concept, developed for the 2018 edition of the Festival of the Flemish Community, consisted of inviting everyone to say “yes” to the capital on the day of the festival and thus seal the love between the Flemish population and Brussels.

For the sixth consecutive year, the Belgian capital celebrated the Festival of the Flemish Community on the 11th of July by organising a free street party, “Flanders celebrates, Brussels danses”.

It is in this context that the Flemish population had the opportunity to express its love for Brussels by marrying the Belgian capital in a ceremony specially organized to this end at City Hall.

After saying “yes” to Brussels, Minister Gatz and Mayor Close each had a badge symbolizing their link with the capital pinned on to them. They then posed on the City Hall’s balcony, which overlooks the Grand-Place.

The festivities held in the Brussels city centre were also aimed at attracting Flemish people who had never been to the capital. In the evening a big wedding procession was organized at the Grand-Place. It was then followed by a spectacle on the theme of the marriage.